To increase manufacturing capacity and/or economy, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) commonly outsource their product manufacturing to third-party manufacturers. In some cases, a product may include electronic circuits that the OEM sources from an integrated circuit (or “chip”) supplier. Such chips may need to be configured during manufacture of the OEM products, for example, by blowing a set of one-time programmable fuses. After the chips have been configured, the product may need to be provisioned, for example, by loading OEM software and data onto the chips, where some of the software and data may be considered proprietary and confidential to the OEM.
Generally, it is impractical to require the chip supplier to configure the chips specifically for the OEM before sending them to the third-party manufacturer. Further, requiring the OEM to receive and configure the chips before they are sent to the third-party manufacturer adds extra delay and expense to the manufacturing process. Therefore, an OEM may prefer that the chip supplier sends the chips directly to the third-party manufacturer without passing through the OEM's hands, and the OEM requires the third-party manufacturer to configure the chips.
Such an arrangement may be economically advantageous and efficient. However, it carries several risks for the OEM. For example, the third-party manufacturer may configure the chip incorrectly, build the product incorrectly or may, without OEM authorization, build the products for entities other than the OEM. In addition, the third-party manufacturer may build more units than contracted by the OEM, and may sell the extra units without OEM knowledge. Potentially more damaging, the third-party manufacturer may release confidential OEM information in an unauthorized manner. Accordingly, what are needed are methods for verifying that the third-party manufacturer has properly configured the chips, and for provisioning electronic circuits in a secure, economical, and efficient manner.